1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a method for the detection of lymphocytes which have responded abnormally to transformed cells contained in an organism, infusion or the like as well as detection reagent and detection kit useful for the method.
2. Description of the Related Art
It has been known that a serious disease is induced when intravital cells are transformed by a certain cause. For example, histocytic cells transformed by oncogenes become cancer cells and develop a cancer while T.sub.4 cells transformed by an HIV virus may cause acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS). In addition, hepatitis is said to be attributed to transformation of liver cells by a virus.
It is hence extremely important for the detection of the above-described diseases and the judgement of the degrees of their progress to determine the existence of transformed cells in an organism and their population.
However, the diagnosis of a disease developed by the existence of these transformed cells have heretofore been effected by detecting biochemically, hematologically or immunologically a specific change caused by the disease. These diagnoses are therefore accompanied by drawbacks that they cannot be performed with ease in an early stage of a disease in many instances and they have difficulties in determining the degree of its progress. They involve a further drawback that with respect to each disease, a reagent suited for the diagnosis of the disease must be provided.